Magnolia Matters - 2018 Fall/Winter

Recent studies have shown that despite the improvements in the overall health of the country, significant disparities in health care exist regionally. The United Health Foundation‘s annual America‘s Health Rankings report ranks Mississippi as the second-unhealthiest state in the country. Mississippi‘s high rates of poverty, obesity, and cigarette smoking contributes to its dismal ranking, according to the 2018 edition of the report. Magnolia Regional Health Center started an internal medicine residency program in 2008. The extreme physician shortage led the institution to create the program as a means to recruit, train, and retain physicians in this federally designated Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA). The program, which accepts six residents per year (18 total), has truly had a meaningful impact on the region. FUTURE INVESTING IN OUR By David Pizzimenti, DO, FACOI, Internal Medicine Program Director